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The global app economy slowed for the first time last year, with consumer spending on apps dropping 2% to $167 billion, according to a recent annual report released by data.ai. At the same time, the number of downloads he increased by 11% year-on-year. This seems to indicate that app adoption is still on the rise, especially driven by emerging markets. However, a deeper analysis of Q4 reveals that download growth during this period, usually a boon to the app ecosystem, has slowed recently. These new numbers are even more startling as the holiday season brings new phones and consumers tend to have more free time to try out new apps and games.
Mobile app adoption across the App Store and Google Play store will flatten out in Q4 2022, down just 0.1% year-over-year, with 355 new installs in the quarter, according to app intelligence firm Sensor Tower. billion.
Image credit: sensor tower
That analysis is done on a per-user basis. This means that additional downloads of the app by the same person on different devices will not count towards the total. It also only shows an increase in new downloads, so app reinstalls are not counted. However, the figures are only a guideline.
While Q4 trends weren’t enough to pull the overall year-over-year download growth metric down, they appear to be another sign that the app economy is stagnating. This continues to be influenced by the overall macro economy, which also plays a significant role in app marketing costs.
But here again another argument is needed. Years of high commissions on app sales and in-app purchases in app stores around the world are finally starting to influence the innovation taking place in the broader app ecosystem. When companies have to share up to 30% of their revenue just to deliver apps and games to their mobile users, it becomes even harder to weather a storm like a down economy. Entrepreneurs may also be less inclined to build for mobile, especially if other areas of the market are less restricted – see for example developments around crypto and his Web3. Due to app store guidelines and the need for platforms to profit from in-app purchases, we were unable to fully extend to mobile. With app innovation so stifled, it’s no surprise that downloads and spending are down.
This trend isn’t just evident in the metrics surrounding stagnant app install rates and declining spend.
Another example of ecosystem chaos can be seen in Apple’s editorial picks for the top apps of 2022. The Cupertino company highlighted Gen Z social networking app BeReal as “App of the Year.” “While it has undoubtedly been an explosive success among young people, it is also an app whose daily active users are well below his downloads, and one that currently has no business model. This app is not yet monetized. Its continued existence is fueled by VC funding rather than the app store’s ability to provide a platform on which new ideas can be easily monetized. Also, its developers have struggled to come up with the kind of subscriptions or in-app purchases that could convince younger users to pay. This is the result of app marketplaces that have sold consumers for years on the idea that mobile software should be free.
Then there’s the app at the top of Sensor Tower’s list of the most downloaded apps in Q4 2022. They’re apps from tech giants like Meta and ByteDance, and they’re pitting each other for the top spot. For years, newcomers rarely found their way into this list, and that’s true in Q4.
Image credit: sensor tower
Globally, Instagram surpassed TikTok to take the #1 spot, while other apps from Meta entered the top 10 (Facebook at #3, WhatsApp at #5, Messenger at #8, WhatsApp Business at #9). . .) ByteDance’s CapCut, an extension of TikTok’s workflow, comes in fourth. Other top apps include well-known apps like Snapchat, Telegram, Spotify, Amazon, Flipkart, Twitter and more.
In terms of games, Subway Surfers is number one, followed by Garena Free Fire, Stumble Guys, Roblox, FIFA Mobile, Ludo King and Candy Crush Saga. Subway Surfers finished the year with nearly 292 million installs, up 48% from 2021. His newcomer Stumble Guys took the #3 spot with his over 184 million downloads. Released before 2017, mobile game installs were down quarter-on-quarter, but it’s a positive sign.
Game downloads dropped 6.9% on the App Store and increased just 0.6% on Google Play.
Image credit: sensor tower
Nevertheless, the games category continues to drive app installs. On the App Store, it has almost three times as many installs as the #2 category, Utilities. Worryingly, though, the App Store games category fell below 2 billion for the first time since Q1 2019.
On Google Play, the Gaming category had more installs (11.7 billion) than all App Store categories combined (8.1 billion), while the Play Store’s non-gaming category declined 1.5% year-over-year to 15.8 billion. . Install.
It’s too early to tell if current trends represent the final cooling off of the app store gold rush. prize. However, for the time being, the trend indicates that the top app market is somewhat saturated, and that further innovation and growth will need to start by forcing more competition on the app stores. suggests.
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